FOOTBALL INJURY BILL WOULD AFFECT LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETES

A new state bill, designed to reduce brain injuries and concussions, should soon be signed into law. Local school officials say they have already been using the proposed standards…
Seeking to reduce brain injuries and concussions, the legislature has passed a bill to become effective January 1, 2015, limiting full-contact practice for California middle and high school students. Assemblyman Ken Cooley explains: “What this bill does is, within that 18-hour framework it provides for three hours of contact practice, meaning game-like conditions. So, three hours total on two days, 90 minutes apiece, within the 18-hour framework.”
Athletic Director Jeremy Johnson of the Twentynine Palms Wildcats Athletics supports the bill and reports that the Morongo Unified School District has implemented these standards for several years.
“Another thing we’ve implemented here in our program before it’s even become law was if you’ve been deemed with a concussion, you were out for an automatic week, you had to go to the doctor, you had to go through all the protocols to be able to come back to play and I think it helps. I definitely think it helps.”